Gardening

Whispy ornamental grasses are versatile plants in any garden or landscape. Give your garden four seasons of interest with low-maintenance ornamental grasses. We've rounded up some of the best varieties to try in your yard. You'll love how they look in the wind!

Recipes and Cooking

If you’re a beginner baker who’s just starting out (or a master chef looking to declutter), start with this list of baking must-haves. We’ll help you set up a baking kit for beginners with 21 essential tools. Or for those who already own these tools, this list may finally provide the motivation you need to toss that never-been-used soufflé dish. Building your essential baking toolbox starts here!

Home Improvement Ideas

With so many types of house styles, narrowing the list down to your favorite can be overwhelming. We'll show you the top 10 most popular house styles, including Cape Cod, country French, Colonial, Victorian, Tudor, Craftsman, cottage, Mediterranean, ranch, and contemporary. Here's how to tell the differences between each architectural style.

Cleaning and Organizing

Washing clothes by hand is a little extra work, but it's a well-worth-it laundry chore. Here's how to properly wash clothes by hand, which will give extra life to those special items in your clothes closet.

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How to Grow a Kitchen Garden

Create an indoor kitchen garden in just a sliver of space! You probably never realized windowsills with eastern or southern exposure are prime locations for a small kitchen garden! Check out our tips on creating both a kitchen herb planter and an organic kitchen vegetable garden, including more indoor vegetable plants that grow well in a sunny window.

Start a kitchen garden by taking cuttings from some of your favorite indoor and outdoor plants and rooting them in water. Use pruners or a sharp knife to cut a 3- or 4-inch stem; strip off the bottom leaves and place the cut stem in a small container of water. If you like, choose colorful containers and set them on a windowsill for a pretty effect.

Although it doesn't suit every plant, rooting kitchen plants in water is the easiest propagation method. Change the water in the containers weekly because stale water turns cloudy and detracts from the attractiveness of the arrangement. More important, bacteria may develop and create an unhealthy medium for the kitchen plants.

Enjoy the cuttings during the winter months, then transplant them into containers and set them outdoors for the summer.

What to Know About Transplanting

Most plants for a kitchen garden thrive only a limited time without soil in which to spread their roots. When you transplant rooted cuttings into potting mix, remember that the roots they form in water are finer and more fragile than the ones they develop in soil. For at least a week after transplanting, keep the potting mix moist to avoid shocking the kitchen plants and to allow new roots a chance to grow. However, cuttings that are rooted in soil should be watered once when they're placed in a pot of soil to begin developing, and not again until the soil is almost dry.

Herb Garden

Start with the right container

If you choose a kitchen herb planter that is too small, your herbs won't like it. Too big, and it won't fit on a windowsill. Find a kitchen herb planter about 4 inches deep and as wide as your sill will allow. Plenty of cute, clever kitchen herb planters can dress up your kitchen. (Be careful: Glazed ones may prevent evaporation, leading to soggy roots.) Consider painting terra-cotta kitchen plant pots with chalkboard paint, then writing the herb names on the sides. Another trick: Add stakes so you know what's what. If you repurpose something else—say, a vintage tin—make sure it has a drainage hole and a saucer to catch excess water. That's a must.

Next add herbs

Most herbs are super easy to start. You can cut a branch from an outside plant and stick it in potting soil. You can buy seeds—although you'll wait longer for finished herbs. Or you can purchase small seedlings.

Outside, you have to carefully consider whether kitchen plants like sun or shade. Inside, with herbs, all you really need is a happy, healthy dose of sunshine from a windowsill (south-facing is best). Look for a spot with about six hours of good rays for your indoor wall herb garden. You'll also need soilless potting mix, and you may need to fertilize every other month.

Kitchen Vegetable Garden

Vegetables require at least six hours of sun daily

You'll need a few sunny windows or artificial lighting for your vegetable garden to do the trick.

Make decorative arrangements

Combine different indoor vegetable plants in one container. Plant red- and green-leaf lettuce together, for example, or edge a container holding a patio tomato with leaf lettuce and radishes.

Fertilize vegetables every two weeks

Water to keep the soil evenly moist, especially when your indoor garden vegetables begin to flower and produce fruit. Help fruit production by lightly brushing your kitchen garden vegetables with your hand to spread pollen as they bloom.